Body-attachable devices employed to support a subject at, for example, a limb or the terminal end of a residual limb, often cause significant problems consequent to uneven distribution of force at surface areas of the subject in contact with the supporting orthosis or prosthesis. Although orthoses and prostheses typically are fitted by forming a material to the contours of the area of contact with the subject, soft tissue tends to move under use conditions consequent to linear and non-linear changes and differences in load, impedance and stiffness across the interface between the orthosis or prosthesis and the subject. Such changes of the soft tissue underlying the interface redistributes force across the area of the orthosis or prosthesis contacting the subject and can, as a consequence, deleteriously affect the subject not only in the area of contact with the prosthesis but, secondarily, as a result of efforts by the subject to minimize discomfort caused by that uneven distribution of force during activity. Previous attempts to minimize uneven distribution of force across the contact area between a subject and a prosthesis have included, for example, bladders that are distributed across the surface area of the prosthesis contacting the subject. However, such attempts generally do not account for differences in load, impedance or stiffness across the interface between an orthosis or prosthesis and a subject and, therefore, cannot be manipulated to correct the types of forces distributed across the interface.
Therefore, a need exists to overcome or minimize the above-referenced difficulties.